The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-28

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New ORLEANS, ct. 10, 1857.
A September day irs-.he acity" ha.
been more than ordinarily pleasant
Now that night has oyershadowed the
scene, 1t Is far cooler than places of
| hlgher latitude. The old stone, placed
| IN Lafayette Square by the United
states Coast Survey, marks the latitude
at Zyd. o9m. 56s.-nearly thirty degrees
north.
Canal street, 50 high, 50 bright. a
great avenue thronged with people, is
perhaps the only street of the kind in
the world where the grass grows contin-
ually down its center. These scenes are
old and familiar to ALL The old Expo
sItlon Grounds, where thousands of peo-
pie roamed, are silent and deserted now,
and the grass has covered all the shrubs.
flowers aud walks-ali except the tall
trees and those wide-spreading live oaks
which attracted universal admiration
Down at
THE FRENCH MARKET
the buster and confusion of other years
continue. The same jargon greets the
ear, the same scenes meet the eye. The
Dago wildly endeavors 20 sell his wares,
the vendors of all things and of every
nation keep up their confused clatter,
while the remnant of the Choctaw
squaws sits quietly with her papoose,
hoping for purchaser of the gombo
fete, which Is spread out beside her.
jackson Square is, as of yore, with all
its pretty flowers in bloom, and its sing
ing birds. The equestrian statue of the
old warrior, sweats, man and horse, as if
the charge were made through mist,
or In the heat of summers day. The
old clock opposite, on the grand
FRENCH CATHEDRAL,
numbers the hour of 6 and the devout
move in and out the large doors of the
edifice. The dim lights OF the inner
walls is relieved somewhat, by stray
early sunbeams, threading their way
through the colored panes in the curl
Gus windows above. The handsome pic
lures and valuable frescoes can be but |
dimly seen in the faint light. The altar |
candles are burning, the angelus bells |
are sounding-theh an anthem and the |
regular services of mass. The worship. |
ers come and go. They kneel, cross |
pray with rosary in hand, |
arise, cross themselves again and pass |
put. All move reverently and silently. |
thus it is the same, year after year. No |
innovations seem To get a foothold |
here.
This last place is the best in the city |
to observe the varieties of the human |
family. In no other city is the native |
variety so great. In this old cathed raj |
all are seen. The rich, the poor, the
white, black and intermediate races. |
They come and kneel so deyoutlv, so I'M
that stranger has time to
study the castles and classes before him. |
There is always sprinkling of travelling
visitors in the cathedral, at this hour,
out they are easily distinguishable from
he habitues.
The CREOLES
IF Spanish and French descent are ex-
remedy beautiful Their clear COM
,lexions contrast well with the dark |
lair and large black eyes. They are
extremely stately and reserved |
n manner, wearing dark dresses and
heavy wells. Their feet are small, their
orms of perfect symmetry, and their
movements, the quintescence of grace.
their features are of the Caucasian and
Jastillian type, and their hands dainty
nd very beautiful. They move, with
owncast eyes, up the aisle and kneel
n the pews. They open their prayer
looks, or finger the rosary, and appar-
ntly see nothing around them. With
they leave the church.
The Quadroons are rather a harder
lass to determine, so different are they
n their nationalities, all grated on the
egro stock. There is sort of freckled
lulatto with reddish, crispy hair and
lue eyes, who seems conscious of her
gliness, and who, unobtrusively, per-
1rms her mornings devotions and
loves clumsily away. There is the
runette complexion of the French and
panish mixture, with large dark eyes
nd shapely form, yet strongly marked
18th the brand of Ham. Then there is
he quiet hushed eye of the French Oc-
broom, with the slight down of dark
ilken fur on the upper lip. The head
we'll poised and the back straight, the
arriage exceedingly regular and stately.
Another of the like class, with dark
quid eyes, seems to have found a heri-
age in deferential modesty, that quiet,
manner, which is only
ound at the other end of society, in ex.
high bred circles-a total I'M
of personal observation.
IF these various feminine d;lutions of the
Ie, no it is hard to give an adequate idea.
They range from the darker shades to
almost pure white. Yet in each the
of their race are distinct
V visible on near approach or close
The coal-blac class are
lot less devotional and may be seen
,owing devoutly before the guided
lltars. Here, too, the French and
American working girl come in the
Early morning and offer prayers and
,ennances. Near by the rosy Irish girl |
hows more earnest enthusiasm than all |
he other devotees combined. Then |
here is the clustering, hurrying woman |
IF all nationalities, but chiefly white, |
who comes with a rush and pushes her |
levotiors to a close as rapidly as posi- |
Die, as all her worldly affairs are crowd |
ng her mind. Sometimes she has her
basket and is hurrying to or from the |
market; sometimes she is impelled by
1eIv ous energy to work and worry and
make 'much ado about nothing" Not
even the stiffness and dimness of the old
could calm the restlessness of
this class, and one feels relieved when
the fidgets are gone.
This place is a luxury to the traveller
after dose of the French market, which
becomes audible as soon as you get into
open air again. In fact, TO think, there
is no better place in the bustling, busy
city. In the dim light, undisturbed, the
mind can rest and the heart can feel the
solemn influence of the surroundings
and send an earnest prayer of gratitude
up to its Maker. This is
A SCHOOL WITHOUT BOOKS,
Taught by nature, assisted by observa-
ton. When the grey-haired matron an d
the lettering, aged sire, come slowly
before the altar and reverently bow the
knee, the heart goes out in
all its fullness. Perhaps angels una
wares are in the dim light of that old
Cathedral; perhaps they are creeping in
on the scattered sun-beams, as Ariel
rode into Paradise.
Again in the street, the promiscuous
crowd in all its varieties, is before us.
The neatly coiffed bandannas are not to
be seen as IN the olden day. 1t was a
badge of slavery and has been discarded
by the Octaroon and Quadroon maids
and maidens Of to-day. Fancy hats and
tiny bonnets are displayed on all sides,
evidencing the aping characteristics
springing from the darker ancestry,
softened by the tastes of white inheri-
lance, completed by French shades and
combinations. In dress they endeavor
to excel; for with them, as it is with US,
it is an evidence of uppermost age. Their
social standing depends upon it. They